“Water Protectors,” demonstrate against the Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline in northwestern Minnesota on Dec. 17, 2020. (Sarah LittleRedfeather/Honor the Earth)

“Water Protectors,” demonstrate against the Enbridge Line 3 Pipeline in northwestern Minnesota on Dec. 17, 2020. (Sarah LittleRedfeather/Honor the Earth)

Tribes, faith leaders petition Biden to end Enbridge Line 3 pipeline

During a Feb. 10 digital rally, Tara Houska, who is Ojibwe from Couchiching First Nation and a tribal attorney, said it was "really powerful" to see people of faith come together with Indigenous communities in this stand.

Speaking from the Welcome Water Protectors Camp in Palisade, one of the frontline camps along the bank of the Mississippi River, roughly 200 yards from one of the Enbridge construction sites, Houska said they are fighting to protect the wild rice and, with it, the culture of their people.

The pipeline, she added, represents a mentality where "we're taught that we must extract to live, rather than to live in balance and to live in a way that respects all life."

"That's what this fight is really about. It's not just the expansion of the tar sands and climate crisis and fossil fuels and emissions and all those things. … Water is life. We can't live without it," Houska said.

Construction of the replacement pipeline began in early December, after Enbridge received final permits from state agencies, including the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, which denied tribal requests to place a stay on construction until the appeals process plays out.

Tribal leaders and their allies say that Enbridge is rushing to complete construction before they have their day in court.

On Feb. 2, the Minnesota Court of Appeals also denied a request by the Red Lake and White Earth bands to halt the work until the court rules on the case. A separate case is before a federal court, and decisions in both are not expected for months.

The suit in U.S. District Court seeks to overturn key water-crossing permits issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in November. The planned Line 3 route spans more than 200 water bodies, including 22 river crossings — among them two at the headwaters of the Mississippi River that have become focal centers of the standoff. The tribes argue that while a state environmental impact statement was completed, one at the federal level was not.

Environmental groups have also targeted major banks to freeze funding for Line 3 and other fossil fuel projects.

Photo by Sarah LittleRedfeather

Photo by Sarah LittleRedfeather

"That's what this fight is really about. It's not just the expansion of the tar sands and climate crisis and fossil fuels and emissions and all those things. … Water is life. We can't live without it." — Tara Houska #StopLine3 Tweet this

While legal challenges have not stopped construction, Mother Nature has, at least momentarily. Enbridge is barred from drilling under the Mississippi and other rivers in northern Minnesota, where temperatures are regularly below zero, while their waters are frozen.

Along with petitioning Biden, Interfaith Power & Light has requested a meeting with Gina McCarthy, head of the newly created White House domestic climate office. Line 3 opponents view McCarthy as a potential ally, who in her prior position as head of the nonprofit Natural Resources Defense Council had signed onto a letter urging the Minnesota governor to stop the pipeline. U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota is among the local politicians who have visited the camps and asked Biden to cancel the pipeline.